An LP Poll

Tuesday 25 May 2010 - Filed under Libertarian Party

The Libertarian Party is hosting a poll in order to determine their new slogan which will officially represent the party.  First, the options:

– Fiscally Conservative, Socially Liberal
– Fiscally Responsible, Socially Tolerant
– Free Markets and Civil Liberties
– More Freedom, Less Government
– Smaller Government, Lower Taxes, More Freedom

It my estimation, the LP’s biggest obstacle is that there is very little recognition from either the political left or right that though we may come from different places, we share major components of our respective platforms.  In the estimation of your average American, Libertarianism is part of the political fringe.  Libertards think that we’re nothing but a bunch of bafoons who want NO government, while Conservatards seem to think that we’re useful, but only so long as we keep our ideas to ourselves.

When considering a slogan, the LP needs to appeal to those in their respective parties who are dissatisfied, yet are absolutely opposed to many of the tenets of the competing party.  In short, disgruntled Libertards don’t want to become Republicans, and Republitards don’t want to become Democrats, and if the LP is to attract new members and gain influence in the political sphere, it needs to avoid the idea that we are somehow aligned with the enemy.  It cannot be tied with either the Republican Party nor the Democratic Party, and for its slogan, the Libertarian brand in a few words, it should not use any of the lexicography associated with either party.  When trying to differentiate your political philosophy using words, one should not use the language that is based in the philosophies from which you are trying to discern yourself.  It’s just bad business.  This idea of verbal differentiation is the basic tenet of “Words Actually Mean Stuff” or WAMS.

In that light, the LP should heavily consider eliminating from consideration slogans which contain the two most offensive words used in the Libertard/Conservatard political “dichotomy”: Liberal and Conservative.  To a Republitard, nothing can be more repulsive than being a liberal.  Ditto for Libertards and conservative.  Those words simply carry too much cultural baggage to be useful allies in attracting those in the disgruntled polity.  That rids us of Option 1 as it contains BOTH. One could perhaps argue that because it does contain both, it still might have the capability to draw in from disgruntled ranks (Liberals will enjoy the idea of being socially liberal, and fiscal conservatives will find themselves in comfortable territory as well), but it seems that its negative value will offset any potential gains making the result moot.

When we look at some of the other terms used in the other options, we need to keep that same WAMS mentality: that there are certain key words or phrases which will inherently serve to turn off those opposed to their current political enemy.  “Small government” (and any variants), “Free Markets” and “Low Taxes”, all favorite mantras of tea party types need to also be eliminated for the same reason as above.  No libertard, even disgruntled ones, wants to be associated with a political party who has through language aligned itself with the Tea Party movement.  After all, according to most libertards, it’s the free market and the supposed lack of regulation (small government) which is to blame for our current financial woes.  Even the phrase of “More Freedom” smacks of something on a poorly written Tea Party sign and should be eliminated from contention.  In that light, we need to eliminate options 3 and 4 and 5.

Which leaves us with option 2.  “Fiscally Responsible, Socially Tolerant”  Even some Demotards claim to want some semblance of fiscal responsibility in our federal government, and they already fly the banner of tolerance (unless we’re talking about the tolerance of supposed “uneducated, redneck, hillbilly, racist, etc, in which case they are perhaps more intolerant than anyone).  Republicans certainly want fiscal responsibility, and many have become weary of Conservatard morality, or at least the forcing of Christian morality on to society through the federal government, and so the idea of social tolerance, without having to pay the expense of fiscal irresponsibility, is appealing.  This combination seems to NOT allow an initial wall of negative association prematurely wreck any connection one might make when seeing the new LP slogan, yet still adequately portray the most basic tenets of Libertarian political ideology.

A slogan is best used to draw the initial interest of the political other, not be the actual defining facets of a particular philosophy.  Though one might argue that one of the other phrases more accurately represents the heart of libertarianism, if they immediately turn readers away because of negative association, it won’t matter.

2010-05-25  »  madlibertarianguy